A couple of Gen Y social media gurus over at the Blackbaud fundraising-software company have written a book for organizations just now dipping their toes into the digital waters. It’s titled 101 Social Media Tactics for Nonprofits and serves as field guide for navigating the plethora of platforms available for connecting and collaborating.They’ve also started a companion blog (to which I’ve already subscribed) and you can follow them on Twitter.
Speaking recently with a reporter from The Chronicle of Philanthropy, the tech-savvy duo offered the following advice.
On getting started: Find a mentor. Find people in peer organizations that you can learn from and borrow ideas from — people like the Beth Kanters of the world. Follow them and interact with them and read the posts that they’re linking to because it’s great curated content.
On avoiding exhaustion: You don’t want to spread yourself too thin to where you’re not delivering value in each of the most important channels. Setting out a clear strategy and goals is the first place to start.
On sidestepping mistakes: Avoid a lot of activity with no real purpose. Avoid treating all platforms the same. They’re all very unique and they all have unique audiences, so tailoring the message is key.
Sounds sensible to me.